The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, is disappointed James Packer only told half the story about pokies during his speech to the Crown Limited Annual General Meeting this morning.
“His address is thick with the story of Crown’s success, and in particular that the company made a profit of $340m in the last financial year, an increase of 18 per cent on the year before,’’ he said.
“But what the AGM didn’t hear are the human costs of that profit.
“For instance the story of the 45-year-old man who blew the lot on the pokies and went upstairs to his free room at Crown Casino to take his own life in May this year. Nor the heart-wrenching footnote, how his brother spent hours walking the never-ending car parks of Crown trying to find his dead brother’s car.
“Nor did the Chairman and Chief Executive of Crown recognise people like the man who emailed me in April to tell me that he has lost some $700,000 at Crown, the majority on poker machines.
“These stories are common place and reflect the shocking tragedy of poker machine problem gambling in Australia.
“The Productivity Commission estimates there are 95,000 poker machine problem gamblers and they lose some $5b every year. They also lose their life savings, their family and friends, their minds and sometimes their lives.
“That one of the richest men in Australia is worried about his profits being affected by poker machine reform goes to the heart of why the poker machine industry is so fiercely and dishonestly resisting reform.
“Moreover Mr Packer’s speech today sought to perpetuate the baseless claim that the Government’s reforms will not work. The fact is the implementation of mandatory pre-commitment on high-intensity poker machines is a recommendation of the independent Productivity Commission.
“Moreover the implementation of $1 maximum bet machines outside of pre-commitment will accommodate the 88 per cent of pokies players who gamble $1 or less per spin, and that this is also in line with the Productivity Commission’s recommendations.’’
• Picture: Perth Now, HERE
• CALL FOR POKIES ROLL-BACK MODELLING
As Premier Admits They Shouldn’t be Outside Casinos
Kim Booth MP
Greens Gaming spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens today urged the Premier and Treasurer, Lara Giddings, to undertake modelling of options to roll-back pokies from pubs and clubs, following her admission that poker machines should never have been allowed outside casinos.
Greens Gaming spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that conducting the roll-back modelling now would help position the State to finally take action on pokies when the Deed of Agreement with the Federal Group expires.
Mr Booth also said that during the debate on the Greens’ motion yesterday to have casinos contribute four per cent of their pokies take to the Community Support Levy, the Premier stated, ‘I would share I think the views of the Greens that it is a shame that pokies were ever allowed into hotels, pubs and clubs. Poker machines should have stayed in casinos alone.’ [1]
“The Greens applaud the Premier’s frank acknowledgement that pokies should not have been rolled out of casinos into the community, but it is disappointing that she is not prepared to take remedial action,” Mr Booth said.
“Our suggestion that modelling be done now into options to roll-back pokies from pubs and clubs, would mean that the relevant data and evidence would be available when the current Deed with the Federal Group expires.”
Mr Booth dismissed as spurious the Premier’s excuse that modelling work now would be a waste of time since the Deed is not scheduled to expire until 2023, and that there were more pressing financial imperatives given the tough budget challenges ahead.
“Ironically there would have been potentially an extra $3 million per annum to conduct pokies roll-back modelling had both Labor and Liberal not voted together to block the Greens’ move to have casinos pay four per cent of their pokies profit into the CSL just as pubs and clubs have to do.”
“Also recent history where in 2003 the then-Labor majority government renegotiated the pokies Deed with Federals prior to the 2008 expiry date, demonstrates that we cannot presume that a similar opportunity may not arise between now and 2023. And in that case good information may prevent an extension.”
“Undertaking modelling work now to identify the most effective and efficient way of rolling pokies back out of pubs and clubs, where even the Premier says they should not be, would a responsible investment in addressing pokies addiction rates and problem gambling,” Mr Booth said.
Reference: Hansard, Wednesday 26 October 2011, Part 2.
